Nightly rate: AED 197 nett (S$71)
Nightly rate after Citi Prestige 4NF rebate: AED 164 nett (S$59)
Length of stay: 4 nights
Membership level: Diamond
With a total of 370 guest rooms, Hilton Garden Inn Dubai Mall of the Emirates opened in 2015 as the second largest Hilton Garden Inn in the world.
Before this stay, I had 38 Elite nights with Hilton (excluding rollover from 2019). With the ongoing Double Elite Night offer, I would need just 11 more nights to reach 60 Elite nights this year to receive 60,000 milestone bonus points (worth $420)! With so many new Hilton Garden Inns in Dubai priced between $65-$75 a night, I don’t want to miss this opportunity.
Location
The hotel is 5 minutes walk away from the gigantic Dubai Mall of the Emirates, a very popular tourist shopping mall.
There are 2 hotels, Sheraton and Kempinski that are directly connected to the mall. These are great options if you require accessibility. However, they are often priced about 3-10 times more than other hotels in the area surrounding the mall.
There is also a medium-sized supermarket conveniently located just across the road (1-min walk) from the hotel. It is open 24 hours a day.
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Arrival
There wasn’t a Gold/Diamond line at the reception but there was only 1 other guest in front of me. As a Diamond member, I was upgraded to a King Room on the highest non-smoking floor.
The room
Room 675 was very cold when I first entered. Temperature regulation was poor and the air conditioning looked to be regulating the room temperature at around 23°C even when it was off. I turned the A/C off on my first day, never turned it back on and the room still felt cold when I checked out 5 days later. Setting the thermostat to 32°C did absolutely nothing. I even called in the A/C guy to have a look. He then mentioned some reasons that didn’t make any sense before I decided not to waste each other’s time.
I noticed this in a number of Hilton Garden Inns in recent years. It is probably meant to keep the rooms cool and dry to prevent moldy smells like those in older hotels like Sheraton Dubai Creek. However, it can be uncomfortable especially when the windows do not open.
After a few hours, I noticed cigarette smell in the bathroom. The A/C guy came in again, denied that he smelt anything and mentioned that the A/C must be kept on for better circulation.
Furnishing in the room is very consistent to other Hilton Garden Inns that I have stayed in and very practical. The ergonomic chair and work desk kept me happy during the stay.
There’s a privacy problem for rooms facing the pool though. At night, I could very clearly see what people are doing in other rooms. I kept my curtains closed all day.
Best rooms
In general, I always ask for a room on the highest floor possible and it must not be a connecting room (less noise).
Because of the lack of view and privacy from the inner-facing rooms, I would pick a room facing the road if I return in future. These are odd-numbered rooms from x13 to x57.
Breakfast
Breakfast was served as assisted buffet at The Garden Grille from 6.30am till 10.30am. I could order freshly-made pancakes and french toasts. Food quality and quantity are as expected from a Hilton Garden Inn.
Laundry
It was challenging looking for a place to do my laundry in Dubai. I found out that there is literally only ONE self-service laundry here and most other laundry services specialize in dry-cleaning and charge by the item. It seemed like my only solution was to stay in a Marriott Executive Apartment or Airbnb to do my laundry.
However, upon further research, I found out that all 4 Hilton Garden Inns in Dubai offer free use of their self-service washer and dryer machines to staying guests! Note that detergent is not provided. You can get it from the hotel for AED 15 for a 260g box or from the supermarket across the road for only AED 4.50 for the exact same brand and size. I went for the smaller 110g box for just AED 1.75.
The laundry room is located on level 1, near the pool.
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Other facilities
Ratings
Breakfast: 7/10
Service: 7/10
Location: 8/10
Room: 7/10
Facilities: 9/10
Executive lounge: –
Elite member recognition: 7/10
Value (for what I paid): 9/10
Bottom line
A decent, cost-efficient hotel that I would return to the next time I am visiting Mall of the Emirates. Not just that, I may also return for a night or two if I am hotel-hopping around Dubai Marina or Palm Jumeirah and need to do my laundry.
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